Torch, Cheryl Strayed
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Publishing: Vantage Contemporaries, Vantage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-345-80561-4
Copyright (C) 2005, 2012 by Cheryl Strayed
Cheryl Strayed’s debut fiction novel, Torch, is deeply inspired by Strayed’s personal experience in regards with family grief. From reading her biography and watching her biopic film starred by Reese Witherspoon, Wild, Strayed has gone through many difficulties before her hiking quest for healing through the Pacific Crest Trail in California and Oregon. In her early 20s, her mother passed away from cancer and her grief and devastation led to the divorce of her first marriage. Even though Torch is fictional, the plot and theme about family grief within the novel brought me and the rest of the audience a lot of attention in regards with Strayed’s perspective in life after the passing of her mother.
The main characters are Claire Wood and Joshua “Josh” Wood, the children of the late Teresa Rae Wood, and their stepfather Bruce. Claire is a studious college student whilst Josh is a somewhat reckless high school student. In the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that Teresa is diagnosed with cancer and she and the entire family come together for a close bonding as she undergoes treatment. Tragically in the later chapters, Teresa passed away; her death led to a drastic alteration for Claire, Josh and Bruce due to their devastation. The grief caused each three of the main characters to go through impetuous actions; Claire became sexually promiscuous despite already being in a relationship; Josh performs numerous deviant acts and impregnated his girlfriend who is his classmate in one of his high school classes; and Bruce is allegedly suicidal. Throughout the rest of the novel, Claire, Josh and Bruce still come together as a family without Teresa and together they learn the meaning of dealing with the loss of the loved one.
As I read this novel, I find it deeply compatible within my own experience. I had a friend (whose name will not be mentioned under her request) who really meant a lot to me and I find her as my personal role model. Back in 2011, she committed suicide. When I found out about her death, I was in deep devastation and my grief led to my loneliness and wanting to be away from everyone around me because I believed I couldn’t find a perfect friend–or partner–like her. She was the only friend I had who was not abusive towards me and she never let me down. My friend’s death is one of the reasons why I suffered through depression and why I have suicidal thoughts and ideations. I guess I can say that I can relate to the stepfather Bruce in the novel, even though I see myself as Claire more, except I believe that I am not sexually promiscuous. In the novel, I have a deep feeling that Bruce may have been suicidal due to a broken heart from the death of his wife. This correlates to what I have gone through myself when I lost someone I loved to death. The overall idea within Strayed’s novel and personal experience is that grief is an uncontrollable emotion and because of all the negativity within, the emotion itself can lead its victims into performing impetuous actions or thinking about suicide. To me, this is a sign that we truly missed someone; it’s the sign we’re giving to other people, whether family or strangers or concerned others, as a way to show how much we loved that deceased person and how much we wanted him or her back.
I give Cheryl Strayed’s Torch a 4/5 stars. I truly admire this book. It correlates to the meaning of family and grief. After reading this novel and aside with my friend’s suicide, I feel as if Strayed is sending me a message about giving the family a second chance. Several of my family members were abusive towards me and just reading this novel made me want to give a second chance to those who have tormented me during family gatherings. By that, I meant maybe if I have the audacity to admit how I truly feel about their wrong-doings and maybe if we find ways to control ourselves, we would learn to have a stronger bonding, similar to Claire Wood and her brother Josh and stepfather Bruce.
I highly recommend this semi-biographical fiction novel to those who have gone through similar and serious family issues. It is deep, vivid, confessional and the integrity within the story is very compelling. For a debut novel, Cheryl Strayed has put a lot of audaciousness and emotional strength inside.
References: